Of Mist, Home and Popcorn
by Gater101
Summary: OneShot. Challenge response. John, Teyla and Popcorn. 'Home' Tag.


Title: Of Mist, Home and Popcorn.  
Summary: l'ssilence challenged me to write "John, Teyla and Popcorn". This is the result. Post 'Home'.  
Characters: John and Teyla  
Pairing: John/Teyla

John sighed as he flopped onto the sofa in the recreation room. He'd had one of those days; the kind that now seemed to meld into one another as another run of the mill day in another galaxy. He shook his head, smiling wryly. He sometimes wondered about the malleability of human nature when it came to survival. If someone had told him a year ago he'd be part of a joint civilian military expedition to another galaxy where Vampire like creatures wanted to suck the life right out of them, John would not have hesitated to call the doctors on them and have them whisked away. Hell, if he hadn't seen that chair and the drone that fired from it down in Antarctica, he'd have called the men in the white coats on O'Neill, Weir and everyone else cooped up down in their little hole.

As it was, he was glad he never. They'd only been in Atlantis for a matter of months but already he knew that this was the place he'd been wanting to find for years. Despite the fact that they lived in a constant state of fear – like most sitting ducks do – John knew he would trade it for no other world in two galaxies. He'd found friends in Atlantis – in Pegasus – unlike any he'd ever had in his entire life but he supposed that's what being cut off from home would do to a small group of people. He spent his everyday life with the people in Atlantis, he worked with them, relaxed with them. They were all his responsibility and it scared him because he had come to grow quite fond of some of them.

"Am I early?"

John looked up from his quiet musings and smiled; Teyla stood in the doorway, her usual combat trousers and tank top replaced with a flowing skirt and matching top. The earthy tones matched the colour of her skin but John couldn't help but miss the flesh that had been on show to his mind only hours before.

"Not at all, come on in," he replied and gestured to the spot on the couch beside him. She sat beside him, closer than normal, her arm brushing against his. He turned his head to her and smiled as she did the same.

"Your world is different to what I had expected," she said quietly, glancing at her hands and suddenly he was alarmed.

"Well, that's just my take on it. You'd need to _really _go there to get the feel of it."

She turned and rested a placating hand on his arm at his alarmed tone, her smile capturing her eyes as well. John looked to where her tanned fingers stretched across his much paler one and he resisted the urge to lift his hand and stroke her fingers with it. He could say with absolute certainty that he was attracted to Teyla, the leader of the Athosian people. She was strong, wise and beautiful with just the right amount of spunk to grab John's attention. Occasionally they flirted and for a while John had thought that maybe she felt the same way about him but he hadn't been sure.

"I did not say it was a bad thing." He frowned at that. "You have spoken of your world as a bad place, Major Sheppard, where the people turn on one another; a planet of war and deceit and struggles for power." He glanced away. He hadn't realised he'd painted such a dismal picture of his home planet. "That is not the world I saw through your mind."

He looked at her again and saw the knowing look in her eyes. She could see right through him; see past all of his bullshit and he was glad. He knows that sometimes he gets into moods where he hates life back in the Milky Way but he had been bitter. Bitter and tired of it all. Pegasus had unleashed a new side to him; the leader, the protector – the killer. He knew it wasn't all good in Pegasus. With hope came loss and there had been plenty of those; too many almost.

He shook himself from his thoughts when her hand withdraws from his arm and he caught her eye again, sharing a smile.

"Oh!" He said, remembering and climbed over the back of the couch, his hands gripping her shoulder when she made to stand up with him. "I have something for you." He moved to the cupboard at the other end of the room and rummaged through. Finally he pulled it out and turned t her, relishing in the grin that slowly took over her features. "Don't tell McKay!" He urged as he came back, pulling the bag of readymade pop corn open.

He heard her chuckle as the lights dimmed, felt her hand rustling in the bag on his lap and he smiled, despite himself.

"I thought the popcorn was finished?" She asked, tongue in cheek and John was glad of her humour.

"I was keeping it for a special occasion."

She held his eye a moment longer, turning away from him slowly in an attempt to hide her smile. He saw it, despite her efforts, and smiled to himself. She sighed and drew her feet up beside her and John was more than a little surprised when she rested her head on his shoulder, her arm coming to rest against his leg.

"Is this a special occasion?" She asked with false naivety as John slung his arm across her shoulders, tugging her closer to him, sharing a secret smile with his shadow.

"It is now."


End file.
